


Mermaidia

by TwilightMaster15



Series: Death Note Children Movie AUs [4]
Category: Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Barbie Mermaidia AU, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, L's Stubborn, M/M, Sacrifice, the au nobody asked for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:14:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23854402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwilightMaster15/pseuds/TwilightMaster15
Summary: The AU nobody asked for but I'm writing anyway.After defeating the wicked sorcerer, Higuchi, Light, the wingless but brilliant and brave fairy, finally receives his own wings.Before long, Light has to put his newly acquired powers to the test, when Higuchi's subordinates abduct L—the young Prince of the Merfolk—threatening to kill the entirely of the merfolk unless he guides them to the exact location of the magical Immunity Berry. L reluctantly agrees, but this doesn't mean he knows what submissive is, and is ready to make his captors suffer.Now, with the help of L's reluctant little brothers, Mello and Near, Light must summon up the courage to find the imprisoned merman even if he has to make a great sacrifice in the process, and save the peaceful land from the clutches of Higuchi. Can they make it in time?
Relationships: L/Yagami Light
Series: Death Note Children Movie AUs [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1629913
Comments: 7
Kudos: 34





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Wonder how this came to be? I learned L's VA is the same one as Prince Nalu, so anybody who knows me or this account will know what I had to do. And I still needed to make it Lawlight so...

In a faraway land full of magic and whimsy, there lived a young fairy named Light—a fairy without wings, and a brilliant mind to make up for it. More than anything, he dreamed of wings of his own so he could experience flight like everyone else. 

But when the sorcerer Higuchi sought to overthrow the Enchantress, Misa, who protected the land yet refused to be his wife, taking away the fairies' ability to fly, Light found a chance to use his situation to his advantage, having already mastered the terrain. 

Along the way, he received help from new friends, including the merprince known as L to whom he grew close. But in the end, he had to face Higuchi on his own.

And even when Higuchi offered him what he wanted most in the world, Light stood up for justice and saved the land, banishing Higuchi to the distant swamps, even if it meant he wouldn't get his wings... or so he thought. 

For back home, Misa came to Light. To thank him for his bravery, she bestowed the best gift of all—Light's very own wings. 

"I can't believe it!" Light looked to the red, almost crystalline-looking wings on his back, taking off into the sky with a laugh, "I'm flying!" 

Misa giggled while Light's little sister, Sayu, whopped in congratulations for her brother, "You go, Light!"

The first place Light went was to the lagoon where L had mentioned he spent a good portion of his time, and he found the merprince in question was looking up at the sky, where the poisoning was gone. His gaze rested upon Light, and he blinked a few times upon realizing that Light was not only sitting next to him on the center rock, but he had wings now.

"Light! You have—"

"I know!" Light looked at his wings, fluttering them eagerly and giggling, "I can fly! And now it won't take half a day to get here."

"I take it the Enchantress granted you those."

"Yeah. I'm glad that you're here so that I could show you!" L chuckled,

"Well then, hero of the land," he handed Light some enchanted seaweed, which would allow him to breathe underwater once ingested, "Wanna see how well those wings help you in the water?" 

Light examined his new wings again, wondering if he could propel himself with them. He snatched the seaweed from L, "Yeah!"

L hopped into the water, "Race you to the reef!" He dove under the surface, his sapphire blue tail peeking out as he vanished.

Light pouted, because that was just unfair, finishing off the seaweed and jumping in after him.

OoOoO

Six months later, Light was racing Sayu across the meadow they called home, embracing every second with the wind in his hair, spinning and flipping as he went, making up for the eighteen years he had been disabled. 

He landed gracefully at the finish line moments before Sayu, but then he frowned when he felt someone tapping his shoulder, a young fairy he had never seen before, with bright red hair and orange goggles,

"Excuse me, are you Light?" He asked, and Light nodded,

"I am. And you are?" He wondered if this was another fan who had come to thank him for fighting against Higuchi, but there was a sense of urgency to this young fairy whom he had never seen before.

"Oh, I'm Matt. I'm a sea butterfly. L's in danger!" 

"What?" Sayu came over, fully aware of her brother's close relationship with the merprince. Light felt a sense of dread fill him at the countless reasons L could be in danger.

"What's wrong with L?!"

"Those Yotsuba folks from before kidnapped L and tied him up and could do whatever they want to him unless he gives them what they want— which could be anything. I know if I tell L's brothers about this, they're going to panic, and while I love them both like family, Mel's a bit reckless, and that won't help anyone." He panted after getting all of that out in one breath, clearly scared out of his mind. Light tried to process everything he had just heard,

"Wait, L's been kidnapped by Yotsuba? That's impossible." He bent down to Matt's level, "Are you sure?"

"Yes! I was there when it happened, and I tried to stop it but I couldn't! L sent me to find you, saying you're the only one who can help."

"Me?!" Light took a step back, before relaxing a bit, remembering he had already dealt with Yotsuba once and if he could do it once without wings, he could do it again! But then he softened, knowing that while he had been spending a lot of time with L in the last few months, he wouldn't call himself an expert on the underwater world—but that was assuming they were going to be underwater. 

What Light knew just from previous knowledge was the royal family in Mermaidia was magical, and merfolk couldn't be out of the water for long periods, or they dried out and more often than not died. If Yotsuba was going through the trouble of kidnapping L and not simply beaching him, they needed him for something and would thus be staying near the water or in it. If L was saying Light was the only one who could help, that meant this took someone with a clear head—or maybe he just didn't want his little brothers to do something reckless in the heat of the moment.

And besides, he cared about L and didn't want to see him harmed, so it was best to hurry. "Matt, where do we need to go?"

"The crystal cove," Matt was noticeably calmer now, "That's where it happened, so can you find clues there?" Light nodded, already flying in that direction he had memorized.

"I'm coming with you!" Sayu insisted, but Light put a hand on her shoulder,

"No, it could be dangerous, and I don't want you to get hurt."

Sayu looked down, her bottom lip quivering, "But—But I can't just wait here while you put yourself in danger again! I want to help."

"You can help," he put a hand on his sister's shoulder, "If I'm not back by dusk tomorrow, promise me you'll go to Dad for help." Their father was the guardian fairy of the magic meadow they lived in, so he would be the best person to get help from if things went south. 

"I... promise," Sayu sighed, and they both hugged, "Be careful, okay?"

"I will." He started flying away, gesturing for Matt to follow, "Come on, we don't have any time to waste!"

Meanwhile

L sighed, sitting atop the pools carved into the high rocks of the crystal cove, more annoyed than anything, and not by his current situation. It was actually the fact these chains were rubbing up against his soaked white shirt. Typically wet clothing was just a thing about being a merman, but with chains rubbing up against it, it wasn't pleasant. Perhaps the same could apply to dry clothing, not that he would know anything about that.

He decided to ignore this fact and get a feel for who his captors were. If he recalled correctly from six months ago, two of them, the ones currently watching him and making sure he didn't get off this rock and dive into one of the pools below were Kida and Shimura. This he could work with. He could tell Shimura was not comfortable in the slightest with the situation, while Kida seemed much more eager about it. 

Then two more people came in, who he was pretty sure were Namikawa and Ooi. He wondered which of the two was in charge, because they both had that aura, but in a different way. But just from a glance, he could sense which of the two would be easier to communicate with.

He contemplated what to do. On the one hand, he could be all cliché with all that "you won't get away with this" nonsense, but Matt should already be well on his way to get Light, who would be able to quickly grab him and leave. He was more curious about why he was here than anything else. While he was pretty sure why this was happening and had prepared for this months ago, having seen this coming, he wanted to be sure before he let anything slip. He settled with an inquisitive expression and innocent blinking,

"For what do I owe the experience to?"

He heard a ringing sound and noticed it was a handheld magic mirror in Namikawa's hand, which he answered. As he walked away, it was hard to make anything out, but L distinctly heard "Immunity berry" and fought back a smirk, knowing he could use this to his advantage. Yes, it would be catastrophic if Higuchi got his hands on that berry, which, as per its name, rendered the person who ate it immune to all magic. L had no doubt there was going to be some threat to make him comply, so it was a good thing he had prepared for this and was ready to make his captors regret being born.

But from what Light had told him, Higuchi wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, so perhaps there was no threat, and he could just annoy them into letting him go. That would certainly be a fun option. He'd already taken to using his fins to kick small pebbles at Kida's head every time he tried to talk, and it was clearly getting on his nerves. 

"So it's the immunity berry you want?" L asked, "Well, I have no interest in helping you, so run along, have a nice day." 

Ooi chuckled, "So I was right that you were going to be difficult." He pulled out a purple and black vial, "Do you know what this is?"

"That is a vial." L snarked, "But if you're asking me what the contents are, I'm can't say since you haven't shown me, but I would assume some type of poison you plan to use as leverage against me to make me comply." Ooi nodded, almost seeming impressed,

"Very clever. I'll give you a demonstration anyway." He took off the lid, and a single drop of a peculiar green substance fell into the water, very quickly dirtying and poisoning the entire pool below and beginning to flood into the next one. L's eyes widened as he noticed how fast-acting this was.

"Just one drop," Namikawa explained as they all looked down, "Sucks every bit of air from the water, killing everything within it. Does it make you rethink taking us to the berry?"

L watched it, already knowing he was going to have no choice, but he wanted to see what he was working with, and how much damage a single drop could do. But maybe there was a way out of this still, even if he could already tell the henchmen were more intelligent than the master.

"Even if I wanted to help you, I can't. The berry's underwater," he watched the second pool become infected, "And last I looked, dryads don't have gills." He smirked a bit since the seaweed was something only known by the merfolk and those who had used it before, but it was something those of Mermaidia typically didn't share, so it was unlikely these dryads would even know.

"Don't play dumb," Kida snapped at him, "That single drop of poison can destroy all of Mermaidia within the hour—certainly not enough time to warn anybody much less evacuate, so how about you tell us the way? We know one exists." Damnit.

L watched Shimura walk down to a pathway in the sand, with a boulder ready to block off the poison from reaching the ocean. Knowing he had no choice, L relented, "Alright!" The rock stopped the poison from spreading further, "I'll... take you to the berry. There's a special seaweed you can eat to breathe underwater." 

Namikawa nodded with a smile, "Wise choice."

Nobody noticed the small smirk on L's face.

_I may have no choice but to lead them to the berry, but I can make this take far longer than it needs to. If I play my cards right, Light or even Mello and Near could find me and nab the vial before we're even halfway there. Or perhaps I can get my chains off and escape with the poison. Either way, this is definitely going to be interesting._


	2. Chapter 2

Light had followed Matt through the air at top speeds to the crystal cove, but neither of them spoke since they were more focused on the fact L had been kidnapped.

Looking around, it didn't take long for Light to see a serious issue, in the form of the almost sticky green water below. He grabbed Matt's hand and dove down, examining the liquid, "Poison?" His eyes widened, realizing that whatever this was had to be the leverage L's captors had over him to do their bidding. They wanted something of L, and L was one of the most stubborn beings out there, so of course, anyone with a brain would know he wouldn't merely obey even if his own life was at stake. But the life of someone else was a different story.

"Did they do this?" Matt glared down at the poisoned water, touching it with a stick, revealing it had the consistency of mud. Both cringed.

"I would think so." Light nodded to himself, thinking back to months ago, "This looks like something Higuchi would have, and that in itself doesn't bode well. Matt, can you think of anything L might know of that would benefit Higuchi?" Matt shrugged,

"I don't know, I'm just a friend of the royal family, so I don't know any official secrets." They both turned when they heard two voices.

"L?" This voice sounded young, like a child, while the second voice was more than likely a teenager. 

"L, I know you're here! Come on out!"

If these two knew L, that was already someone who might have a clue, so Light flew over, noticing Matt's cringe but deciding to ignore it. 

"Excuse me," Light landed, getting a look at the two boys. The younger one looked to be somewhere between ten and thirteen, with white hair and a matching pajama shirt, and a shimmering turquoise tail. The second was blonde with a brown sleeveless leather top and a shimmering gold tail. Just by looking at them, Light could identify the two from L's description of his little brothers, Mello and Near. "I'm Light, a friend of L's."

"You're Light?" Mello scoffed, looking him over, "Hm, I expected more. Well anyway, I'm sure L would love to see you, but he promised that the three of us could hang out today, so maybe you should head back to the... fairy frontier."

"Magic Meadow," Light corrected with crossed arms, already seeing this wasn't going to be an easy thing.

Mello rolled his eyes, "Whatever." Near was still looking around from the rock he was sitting on,

"L?"

"L's not here," Light explained patiently, "He's been kidnapped by Higuchi's henchmen. If you two are his brothers like I think you are, do you have an idea why?" Mello held up a hand,

"Wait, back up, _how_ do you know that? Did you see it happen and do nothing?!" 

"No! Matt told me about it, and I came here to help as fast as I could." Matt flew down,

"It's true." He defended, "I was with L, and he called for me to get Light."

"What kind of crap is that?!" Mello snapped, "If L's in danger, why not call for me instead of a fairy who can't even breathe underwater."

"Perhaps because I know my way around Mermaidia, and I do know how to breathe underwater." 

Near looked up, "So you know about the seaweed. Yes, that is interesting L would trust you with that, but it doesn't change the fact you would not be able to fight against a current, and your wings will actually serve as more of a hindrance than a help. And as two of the princes, Mello and I know Mermaidia."

"Great." Light looked to the two, how young they were, "But I don't think L would want his little brothers in harm's way."

"Look," Mello glared, "I get you're trying to go and be the hero for both sea and shore, but we can handle this. Leave Mermaidia alone." He looked to Near, who nodded, and they both jumped into the water. Matt walked in, his legs changing to a green tail, and he looked towards Light,

"I'll try to reason with him, but when he gets like this, he's hard to talk to. Just find the seaweed and meet us in the city." He dove under, and Light sighed, wading into the water until he was able to find some of the seaweed. Cringing, he ate some and resisted the urge to gag. It didn't get better no matter how many times he had eaten the stuff. 

After a minute of making sure the seaweed had taken effect, he dove under the water and headed towards the city, looking around at all the stunning colors of coral this time of year. He would never get tired of this, weaving through the various paths until he came across a fork in the road. He had two options. One direction led to the capital of Mermaidia, and the other led to a peculiar area where anyone who went in there forgot what they were doing and often got stuck there for hours to days on end. That just sounded like a place L would take his captors, but going in there alone if he was wrong would waste valuable time.

He decided to head for the city in hopes of finding the trio. He gazed at the large pink-colored undersea buildings, searching for the younger princes, quickly finding them in front of a higher, almost flower-shaped building, closer to the surface.

"We need to find Rem," Near was saying to what seemed to be a merfairy—different from a sea butterfly which could switch between mermaid and fairy, a merfairy was both all the time—who Light quickly recognized as Matsuda, "It's about L."

"What about him?" Matsuda asked, grinning as Light listened in from a distance. Mello snarled,

"Cut the crap, this is serious!" He then paused as Light got closer, turning towards him, "I thought I told you to leave Mermaidia alone."

"You did. I didn't listen." He smiled in an innocent yet smug manner, getting his point across that they weren't going to be getting rid of him that easily.

"Oh, hey, Light!" Matsuda brightened, recognizing him, "So how are things between you and L? Do you want to come up for a bite to eat?" Near then smiled—which was honestly kind of creepy, turning to his older brother,

"Mello, merfairies reveal information to people they invite to eat. It appears Matt's right about Light being useful." Mello crossed his arms,

"Fine. Light, you need to ask him about the location of Rem the Oracle, she can tell us where L is." Matt grinned,

"I told you he's gonna come in handy!" Mello sighed,

"Fine, maybe just for this one thing. Matt, head back to the castle and make sure Watari's not panicking about L being missing."

"Got it!" Matt darted off, and Light followed Matsuda, both of them flying up out of the water and into Matsuda's home, which was a large flower in a giant tree rooted underwater. It was an architect's nightmare, and Light found himself getting anxiety whenever he went in, but the food was phenomenal, and he needed this information.

Matsuda flew towards the cupboard, pale blue wings, and lemon-colored tail glittering as the sunlight hit the wet scales.

Light saw down, and Matsuda brought over a plate of cookies, and Light knew that he had to eat before he could ask anything—not that he minded.

As he ate, Matsuda sat down, "So what's brought you down to Mermaidia? Your future wedding?" Light spit out his drink, instantly flushing with embarrassment and cleaning up the mess he had made with a napkin before noticing it didn't really matter since this house was a flower, and he was still drenched. 

"Oh come on, Matsuda, you really think L and I are going to get married?" Best to ease into the information, it was the best way to make people do what you want.

Matsuda rolled his eyes, "Everyone knows you're made for each other."

Light looked at the floor, his voice quiet as he muttered, "Maybe..." Then he perked up, deciding that he really needed a topic change and now was as good a time as any, "You know, I have to ask you something. I'm looking for Rem, the Oracle, but I have no idea where she is or what she looks like. Do you know?"

"I do!" Matsuda leaned in a little in, "Why do you need to know?"

"It's about L, he's been kidnapped, and we need to know where he is, and if anyone would know, it should be Rem, right?" Matsuda pursed his lips, crossing his arms,

"Ah, so that's what had Mello all agitated. Honestly, he gets terrifying when he's like that I may have brought you up here just so I could avoid him, no offense."

Light laughed, "None taken. So can you tell me?"

Matsuda nodded as Light finished eating, "Sure." He cleared his throat, and his voice changed to a rehearsed manner as though this wasn't the first, nor would it be the last time he had answered this question, and there was probably a whole spiel the merfairies had for it at this point. "You want to find Rem, it's not hard to do. Talk to the fairy guide and listen well too. Rem has a secret which from you she'll hide, the shell matters not, best heed what's inside."

Light had no idea what that meant except he had a theory about the shell, so he thanked Matsuda and headed back down to Mello and Near, relaying this information to them to see if they knew what a fairy guide was.

Near bit his thumb in a manner much like L, "The fairy guide... I know where that is! The fairy crosses a river all the way on the edge of Mermaidia."

"Then that must be it. Lead the way." Mello laughed a little bit, a playful smirk on his face,

"Sure. As long as you can keep up with us." The brothers looked to each other before darting off into the blue with speeds faster than Light would be able to follow while underwater.

_Trying to ditch me? This is going to be quite the adventure, but if they're going to use their turf to play dirty, I will too. Game on, kids, but you're not getting rid of me that easily._

He launched back up into the air, spotting the two quickly, and flew after them.

OoOoO

"How much farther?" Namikawa asked for the twenty-sixth time, not that he knew any of this as L had led them directly into the carousel of confusion, and had had them going in figure eights for three hours straight.

"We're almost there," L announced, trying to hide how amused he was by the whole situation, relishing the fact that even when they eventually broke free of this, he had still killed a considerable chunk of time. At this rate, someone would just come in on this, rescue him, they could steal the vial, and that would be that. Some of these men were smart, but none of them smart enough to last in an area that only the strongest of merfolk could resist, "Just take another left at this coral." 

They went left, and this time Ooi asked, "How much farther to the berry, highness?"

"We're almost there," L repeated, rolling his eyes, "Just take a left at this coral."

But this time, he could have smacked himself for getting too cocky, because this was the time Namikawa picked up on what was going on. Still, maybe this could be salvaged.

"Something's not right here." Namikawa looked around, and L grinned,

"Well, of course, it's not right, it's _left_." But it was too late as Shimura also picked up on it.

"How long have we been doing this?" He asked, and L decided to keep being contrary just for the hell of it.

"Doing what?"

"Don't play dumb with me?" Kida snapped, "I've heard about this. You took us to the carousel of confusion."

"I'm not _playing_ dumb." L replied, "I'm intentionally dumbing myself down to your level because, unfortunately, it has proven necessary."

Ooi glared down at him, and if looks could kill, L knew he would be dead many times over, "You are dodging the accusation."

L narrowed his eyes, making it very clear it was neither intimidated or even impressed, "And if I am? What are you going to do? The berry is underwater, and to use the poison means it's destroyed too. From where I stand, it seems perfectly logical to think you are just going to pour the vial in and kill myself and my people anyway when you get what you want, so what motivation is there for me to not delay the inevitable?" Or instead, stall until he could think of a plan to escape, or perhaps get rescued, he was good either way, still enjoying watching his captors fall into his traps. And this was the first of _many_. If he played his cards right and didn't let himself get cocky again, he might be able to push the one-week estimate of his planned path of pain.

Shimura took the reigns of the large stingray they were riding, pulling for it to go up to the surface, "I think it would be best to leave the water to snap out of the spell he's put us under." Namikawa nodded,

"That would be best," he looked down at L, narrowing his eyes, "And don't think your tricks will be tolerated. If you behave, your people will be safe after this. A harmless exchange and no more."

L chuckled in response. _Oh, Namikawa, you underestimate my bullshit detecting and my ability to ruin lives._


	3. Chapter 3

Spotting the two boys was not hard at all—no, it was actually following them that was proving to be more difficult than anticipated. The princes knew this terrain better than he did, and they could move fast underwater. Light could match their pace in the air, but weaving past massive boulders and keeping an eye on at least one of them was proving to be more of a challenge than expected.

At one point, Mello looked up and saw him, then gestured to his brother that they had to move faster. Light huffed, flying even faster until he realized they were coming up on a waterfall. This was the ideal time to catch up as he reached the edge then let himself free fall, just in time for both boys to launch out of the water, also preparing their own falls, and they both landed in the water with Light just above them.

"I win," Near taunted Mello, who crossed his arms,

"No, I definitely won." Light rolled his eyes,

"Personally, I think you two tied." They both looked at him as though they had been deeply offended. He chuckled, putting his hands on his hips, "You two weren't trying to ditch me or anything, right?"

"Us?" Mello scoffed in such a way that made his real intentions clear, but he knew this, "Of course not."

Light decided to play along, also making it clear he knew the truth, "Didn't think so." He looked off to the side and saw a Shinigami sitting on a boat of the sort with a large shell attached to it. "Look, that much be the fairy guide."

"She should tell us where to find Rem." Near mused, and the three of them headed over to the dock, waiting for the fairy guide to pick them up. Mello looked up at Light,

"So, you and L are pretty close, right?"

"Yeah, he's a good friend." Both boys immediately started cackling, and Light frowned at them, "What?" They both continued to laugh, giving zero explanation and being downright frustrating. Light crossed his arms grumpily, knowing they had no plans of telling him. 

"Three to go across?" The fairy guide asked, coming over to them. 

"No," Mello glared, "We want to know about Rem."

"None to go across? Alright then," she turned to leave, but Light stopped her,

"Three to go across!" 

"Oh. Hop on, then." 

They all hopped on, and Mello instantly got back to his interrogation.

"The merfairies told us you know where Rem is. So give it up!"

Near looked over to Mello, "But remember what they also said?"

"Yeah, he said the fairy guide would help us!" Light shook his head,

"That's not what Near means. He said the shell," he gestured towards the shell next to them, "Matters not. You must heed what's inside." He looked up at the fairy guide, "Excuse me, would you please open the shell for us?" 

"Open the shell?" There was a moment's hesitation before the fairy guide smiled, "Of course."

The entire goat suddenly was sinking underwater until they were on the ground, and the shell opened, revealing a beautiful young mermaid with black hair and a dark red tail. She swam up to them, clearly taking more of an interest in Light than the young princes.

"What do you wish to know?" She asked, but something didn't sit right about the mermaid with Light. This was Rem the Oracle? No... that couldn't be. But it had to be, right?"

"Rem, where is L?" Near asked, and the oracle turned to him with a bored expression.

"The sand crab in hand is worth two in the shell." Was the response, and Mello glared,

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

It didn't make sense at all, even for a riddle, but suddenly the pieces clicked into place in Light's mind. This was just another test to see if they had what it took to find Rem!

"No, I think I get it." Light murmured, swimming up to the Shinigami, "I think _you're_ Rem. Will you help us?" He gave his best, earnest smile, pleading for it to work like before on his last adventure. 

Rem stared at him, before smiling, "Of course I will. So, you're looking for L, is that correct?" Light nodded,

"Yes. Do you know where L is?"

"I do—but I won't tell you." 

"You won't?" Near asked. Mello put his hands on his hips, narrowing his eyes,

"Why not?!"

"First, because you need to be more polite." Mello recoiled, shrinking down, as Rem continued. "And if you really want to find L, you must first prove yourselves. Travel to the Depths of Despair, and seek out the Mirror of the Mist."

"The Depths of Despair?" Near bit his thumb in a manner, Light noted, that was not unlike L, "That's a suicide mission. Nobody goes to the Depths of Despair and comes back. _Nobody_." Light tensed; just the idea of a place like that was not comforting in the slightest—much less having to go there. 

"I'm not finished," Rem interjected, "In order to succeed, the three of you will have to rely on one another. And you'll have to sacrifice," she said that last part in Light's direction, which gave him an uneasy feeling.

"Sacrifice what?"

"The Depths of Despair are dangerous—they require a great deal of underwater strength provided by a tail, not wings." Light looked towards his wings, which he was still sometimes shocked to have,

"But I don't have a tail." Did that mean he couldn't save L? These two kids would get themselves killed if he didn't go along, so what could he even do? 

"Exactly. To get to the Mirror of the Mist, and save L, you will need to give up your wings and trade them for a tail." 

Just the idea... no way, not after spending his whole life being an outcast. And he couldn't even go home again if he had a tail, right?! That kind of trade... "Surely there's another way, I just got these wings, and I won't be able to return to my family if I can't—"

"I never said permanently. That part depends solely on you." 

"No. No way, this is crazy! I just got these wings!" Rem sighed,

"If that's the way you want it. But in case you change your mind, Kiyomi has a gift for you." The mermaid, Kiyomi apparently, grabbed something off her shelf in the shell—a necklace of gold wire and five white pearls, "You can use these pearls to wish for a tail. If you do, the pearls will turn deep blue, then one at a time fade back to white." Kiyomi put the necklace around Light's neck, "If you're out of the water when the last pearl becomes entirely white again, you'll regain your wings. If not, you will have your tail forever." 

"Oh, that's bullshit!" Mello snapped, "Come on! Anyone knows with the basic laws of bad luck that there's no way Light would actually get out of the water in time." 

"That doesn't mean it is impossible," Rem retaliated. Light looked down at the necklace,

"Thank you, but I'm sure I won't need it." Still... he decided to hold onto it, just in case. Rem seemed to recognize his choice and closed her shell with Kiyomi inside, floating back up to the surface. Near watched Rem go,

"I'm sure she's just trying to scare you—after all, this whole pointless errand about traveling to the Mirror of the Mist is to prove ourselves worthy."

"It's a waste of our time!" Mello snarled, "Doesn't she know that L's the prince, and he needs help!" 

"She clearly knows," Light replied, "But I doubt that affects her one way or the other." He felt his hand gravitate to the necklace, and he faced the princes, "So, can you get us to the Depths of Despair—as pleasant as that sounds." Mello smirked,

"Don't insult me. Let's go. L owes us so much for all this trouble we're going through to save his ass." He took off, and Light and Near both chased after him.

OoOoO

L moaned, trying to get himself comfortable on the rock he had been sat down on, which was quite unpleasant. He could only deal with so much stupidity in a given day before getting nasty, and these morons had already drained his daily quota and then some. Even the sounds of their suffering were not worth this.

"Alright, highness," Namikawa tried, as L had been genuinely telling them the right way to go—mostly because he had known they weren't going to like this particular aspect. Yet they were denying it and, at the same time, ignoring a glaring issue in their own theory. "We have had enough of your games. The berry is up that path, isn't it?" He gestured to the land path, and L narrowed his eyes,

"No, really, the berry is that way," he gestured down at the water. The dark, rapid waters of the whirlpool, which was more than likely going to tear apart or manage to drown at least one of the dryads, and L was absolutely here for it. "And if you don't believe me, remember that I have a tail," he flopped his tail to prove a point, "And as such, the _land_ path is not somewhere I can access. If you don't believe me, then fine, go ahead. Let me go and go on your way up the path I cannot access or be on for long."

He could already tell he had shut them up with the threats involving the poison that he knew had been coming, as all of them realized that L had a point about his own capabilities. For all L knew, there really was a more straightforward path up that way. But firstly, that was not his goal—his intention was to make this as long and miserable as possible for his captors. And secondly, how would he even know one way or the other? On the flip side, there could be some truly unspeakable horror up the land path, which would be a great joy to watch make a mess of these imbeciles, but alas, he was just a merprince.

"It seems we have no choice to believe him," Shimura said hesitantly, and L smirked.

"A horrible decision really," he muttered under his breath, "Even if I am technically telling the truth."

"Grab him," Ooi ordered, and L made sure to be as much of a pain in the ass to carry as possible, in such a way that nobody would know if he was just slippery or downright stubborn—which he was both.

As he was tossed onto their method of transportation, L couldn't suppress a giggle. He knew he was going to be okay, being built for these types of currents and such, but he knew his captors were not.

This was going to be fun.


	4. Chapter 4

Light followed Near and Mello across the clear waters, and he looked around the gorgeous terrain he had only seen small parts of with L. There were types of plants and corals and animals that Light only imagined existed in storybooks, it was so beautiful. And he thought about what Higuchi would do to this place if he could, and it brought him discomfort knowing his best friend was in that monster's clutches.

"Here we are," Mello said after a little while, "The Depths of Despair," he gestured down at a seemingly bottomless pit with tons of thick roots and seaweed lining its walls. Light looked down with trepidation. At least there were no screams of the damned coming from down there like he had been envisioning. 

"What's it like inside?" He asked, and Near absently played with a strand of his white hair, 

"Nobody has ever been down there and come back to tell, so your guess is as good as mine." Mello nodded,

"You think Rem was telling us the truth about the Mirror of the Mist, or just sending us on a doomed quest for her own amusement?" He huffed, and Light nodded,

"It does seem suspect," he agreed, "But we kind of have to believe her. It's the only chance we have to save L." Mello grinned,

"Once we get down and back, I am going to hold this over L forever. First merfolk and a fairy to make it through the Depths of Despair!" He looked down at the pit, excitement twinkling in his baby blue eyes, "Ready?"

"Not particularly," Near replied, "But let's go."

The three of them swam down, and already Light noticed an issue regarding the current, which made it harder for him to swim, while Near and Mello with their tails had no problem whatsoever. But it was nothing too bad yet, and there didn't seem to be any obstacles to get past to have earned this place its unsettlingly ominous name.

"This doesn't seem too bad," he mused, "I wonder why people make such a big deal about this place. The current's a little strong, though."

Mello scoffed, "Speak for yourself." He swam ahead, Near following, and Light called after them as he actually felt himself getting pushed back,

"Kids, I can't go that fast!" He ended up unable to go any further no matter how hard he tried, "The current's too much."

Near and Mello looked back, and Near smiled a bit, "Don't worry about it. Stay up there, and we'll handle it ourselves."

"But Rem said—"

"It's fine, Light!" Mello shouted up, "After all, you don't want to use the pearls, right? I promise I'll tell you what the mirror said." Light looked down at the pearls in question, relenting,

"Fine. But shout and come back up if you need help, and we'll think of something." He grabbed onto one of the purple roots, watching the kids swim down, a feeling of dread in his stomach.

...

Mello and Near looked around the pit as the natural lighting from above began fading, leaving them in the darkness. Near turned to Mello, "Are we sure it was a good idea to leave him behind?"

"Relax, Near." Mello assured, "The Depths of Despair are no place for a fairy, and this place isn't even that bad, so we'll be there and back in no time."

"If you say so."

As they continued below, Near noticed the addition of new seaweed in a flower-like formation, more like vines than anything else, and they were moving closer. He inched a bit closer to his brother as he started getting a bad feeling about these vines, as the path down below became even narrower, and the deeper they went, he was beginning to see the bones of others who had come down before them.

"Mello..." he hugged himself a bit, then screamed when he felt something around his tail, pulling him closer to the wall. Mello turned and saw the vines had grabbed hold of Near's tail and were forming themselves into a weird pod-like thing, wrapping tighter around him, and Near couldn't escape no matter how hard he tried.

"Near!" Mello tried to tear at the vines, but only managed to get one wrapped around his arm, which he managed to rip off in time, but he was unable to get Near unstuck. Near felt one of the vines wrapping itself around his neck, cutting off his airway and making it hard to breathe.

Mello continued to try breaking Near free with all his might as the pod was closing off from the world, and he screamed, "Light, help! _Help!"_

...

Light had been waiting when he heard Mello's screams, and when he looked down, he saw what was going on below, and his eyes widened,

"Kids!" He started trying to swim down again, still not getting far, and he clenched his fists in pure frustration, knowing he couldn't let these children die. 

"Help!" He heard Mello cry out again, "Light!"

"I'm coming!" He shouted back, knowing what he had to do, and disregarding the consequences, only able to think about L's little brothers, he grabbed the pearls around his neck, "I wish to trade my wings for a tail!" He shouted, and a glow overtook his body, and he saw his wings were gone, replaced with a pink fishtail with red details, and a flowery fin of the same crimson color.

It sunk in what had just happened, "What have I done?"

"Light!" 

He snapped out of it because this wasn't permanent. There was still time to get his wings back, so he might as well make the best of it right now, "Hold on, kids!" and he raced down the pit with more speed than he could have imagined, seeing Near was unmoving and restrained by the vines which seemed to have suffocated him into unconsciousness.

"Light!" Mello's eyes widened, seeing the changes, "Wow. You—"

"Not now. Come on, we have to get Near out of here!" He grabbed at the vines, and with Mello's help, he managed to tear them off Near, pulling the unconscious boy close, only for new vines to grab at Light and try to pull him up against the wall too. Mello glared,

"No, you don't, you vine bastards!" And he grabbed Light's free hand, tugging him free too before the vines had gotten a sturdy grip.

"Thanks," he panted, still holding Near, and Mello shrugged,

"It's nothing." He pulled his tail back as vines tried to grab at him, "Let's go." 

They both swam down until they made it into a cavern free of the vines, and once they were rested on the floor, Light cradled Near, shaking him gently, seeing the bruises formed around the boy's neck, "Come on, Near, wake up." 

It took a moment, but Near did wake up, "Light...? You have a..."

"I know." He replied, "It's fine, as long as I get out of here before time runs out."

"You know that's not gonna happen, right?" Mello said, "No spell with a time limit works out."

"Shut up and let me have peace of mind," Light snapped, but he still found himself laughing a bit, then looking up in awe as he saw a large purple clamshell in the center of the area, "What is that?"

"Who's there?" All three of them turned and saw another Shinigami, who laughed upon seeing them, "Well, isn't this interesting. Three merfolk having come down here." He laughed harder, 

Light nodded, "Yes, we're here to consult the Mirror of the Mist."

"Well, you three must be very brave or very desperate."

"Can the answer be both?" Near asked, his voice hoarse. "We're looking for Prince L, mister..."

"You can call me Ryuk," Ryuk replied, "And you want me to tell you where he is. I can't tell you that, but that can," he pointed to the clamshell, laughing again, "You wouldn't happen to have any apples as payment, would you?"

"Actually," Near dug into his bag, "I do." He held up the apple, and the Shinigami munched on it happily. Mello high-fived his brother for having the foresight to have gotten some food from the merfairies before starting the trip.

Ryuk placed a large hand over the clamshell, and it opened, revealing the Mirror of the Mist hidden within, and he turned to them, "What do you wish to know? You can only ask one thing, and it's anything in the world, like which one of you is going to be the heir to the throne after your brother, or," he turned to Light, "If you are truly meant to be a fairy with wings. Are you sure you want to waste the opportunity on Prince Lawliet's location?"

"Wasting it?" Mello snapped, "What are you talking about? I risked my ass to find my brother, and that's what I plan to find out, damnit!" 

Ryuk laughed, "Selfless individuals. How interesting."

The mirror rippled, and an image appeared, of L tied up and dangled above the water, trying to break free. All three adventurers gasped in horror, and Mello looked ready to bite someone's head off.

Light had his hands over his mouth, "He's above water!" Near trembled,

"He can't be that far out of the water for long in sunlight—he'll die..." 

"Who the hell did this to him—I'll kill 'em!"

Light looked to Ryuk, "How do we find him?" And the moment he said that a rainbow bubble appeared from the pink pearl also hidden within the clamshell, "What's that?"

"A beacon. Follow it to start on the right path," Ryuk gestured to the bubble flying upwards, "And it will protect you from the vines, so I suggest you hurry. I'll be watching, so make sure this adventure is interesting."

"Alright," Light vowed, "Come on, guys, it's best we get going." 

Both princes agreed with a nod to each other, following Light out of the Depths of Despair and to start on the right path.

As they made it back to the regular waters and he was able to see clearly, Light looked anxiously down at the necklace that had allowed the trade, where one of the transformed blue pearls had already faded back to white. He sighed, just hoping he could save L and make it out of the water in time.


	5. Chapter 5

The trio followed the bubble hastily, Light struggling to swim a bit now that his adrenaline had worn off, so Near had to hold his hand and guide him along for part of their journey. He got the hang of it rather quickly, and then he saw something out of the corner of his eye, and he noticed there was a faint sparkling on both of Near and Mello's bicep, though the only reason it was visible for Near was that some of the vines had torn his shirt,

"Your arms," he pointed to the symbol on their arm, Near's was in baby blue and Mello's orange-yellow. It was a simple design, but very pretty, almost like a fancy seaweed design. Mello looked at his arm and pointed to Light,

"Yours too." Light looked down and saw that he had the same marks on his left bicep except in bright red.

"What is it?"

Near chuckled a bit, "The crest of courage. I certainly didn't expect to earn this in my lifetime." Mello ruffled Near's hair,

"Speak for yourself. I knew I was going to get it and imagine the stories we get to tell L about this when we find him!" All of them tensed as they remembered what L was going through right now, but then Near spoke,

"Something seemed off about that vision. L was out of the water and in the sunlight, but he wasn't dried out at all." Light gasped quietly as he realized Near was right. He added on,

"But L seemed like he had stopped dripping water like when he just gets out, meaning he had been out of the water for a while. Is that even possible? For it to be bright like that, not above water, but there is still some moisture? Like an air bubble?"

Mello brightened, "That's it! There's one place, and... it's this way," he cringed and gestured for them to follow, and suddenly the bubble popped. Everyone looked to each other with varying degrees of alarm, but then Light relaxed, putting his hands in his jacket pockets,

"Ryuk said the bubble would start us on the right path, so if it popped now, we must be right about that." He looked down to check the necklace and noticed another of the pearls had turned back to white. He clutched it close because while he did know letting this happen would let him see L more, what would his parents think if he just disappeared one day and never came back? And he had just gotten wings, so to lose them so soon...

He was brought from his musings when he processed what was in front of them—an underwater cavern with jets of what may have been actual fire. Every fiber of Light's being screamed "danger!" and he had to fight the urge to swim away at top speeds. But he quickly calmed himself, remembering why they were here, and he had done this before.

Well, he hadn't done _this_ before. Defeating Higuchi last time mostly meant traveling the terrain, finding his father, and needing some help from various people to get to Higuchi's lair to save his father and the other guardian fairies. For that, he had only needed his charisma, willpower, and his mind. He hadn't needed to change his physical form at all. 

This, however, was completely different. Light had changed his form into something he was unfamiliar with, in terrain he didn't know, and this looked actually dangerous.

"What are those?" He asked cautiously, and Near looked equally alarmed, while Mello was staring at what looked like certain death with total apathy.

"Boiling hot geysers. They say merpeople have been incinerated just brushing up against one of them. But we have to go through here if we want to find L."

"Through the geysers?" Near asked as though trying to figure out if his brother was joking or not. Unfortunately for both Light and Near, Mello was not joking at all,

"Through the geysers," he repeated, and Light stared at the cavern below, figuring out his chances of dying. He quickly noticed that the geysers weren't continuous. They went quiet every could of seconds in a pattern, and the longer he observed it, he realized this might actually be doable.

"We all agreed we'd risk our lives for L." Mello said, in the middle of an argument with Near that Light had tuned out as he was thinking,

"Risking my life and doing something I know will cost me my life are two very different things. Have you not listened to what L told you at all?"

"Only if we're not careful. It's hard, but I've done it before." Light pointed ahead of them.

"Mello's right. Look." He gestured to them, "You just have to watch the eruption patterns and time it right so you can swim through when they're quiet."

Mello nodded, "Exactly." Near huffed,

"If I die because of you, I am not going to be happy."

"Wouldn't think so." Mello grabbed Near's hand, "We'll do it together. You ready?"

Light laughed nervously, feeling the heat radiating from the cavern, "As ready as I'll ever be."

"Okay, wait for it." They all slowly swam forward, and as the geysers settled down rhythmically, Mello counted, "One, two, three, four, go!" All three of them raced through, only pausing when a rogue geyser was about to go off, and Mello would shout, "Stop!"

There were multiple brushes with death, but in the end, the whole group made it to safety, and Light trembled mercilessly as he tried to process what just happened. After he made sure all three of them had gotten out and weren't injured, he managed to force out some words,

"Huh. That wasn't so bad."

"I told you," Mello replied, "Come on, let's go." He gestured to the pearl necklace, where yet another bead was slowly starting to turn white again, "Quickly."

OoOoO

Were these people actively trying to make him annoyed? Through the power of who knows what, most of them had actually managed to get here in one piece—at least it was only most of them, and Shimura got sucked into the whirlpool to either be torn apart or drown. Though that was probably why he had been hung upside down here. The blood was rushing to his head, which may be unpleasant, but it also helped increase his deductive reasoning skills.

As a matter of fact, he was sure he could escape and make a break for it. The only reason he hadn't done that already was because of the poison vial that Namikawa and Ooi had. If that got into the water, his people would die before anything could be done.

He contemplated his options. He had to find a way to get and destroy that vial, but he couldn't use magic since he had been caught off guard without any tools to do so. But since he didn't have legs or the ability to go on land like the dryads could, what could he do?

Even if the dryads got the berry, it didn't bode well for the people of Mermaidia. Assuming they were intelligent enough to know what the damn thing looked like, didn't mistake it for the true form berry, and managed to find the real thing since L had used magic and the water path up into the cave to hide the berry so you would have to be either really thorough or know where to look. Higuchi would probably order the poison to be used anyway as a sort of revenge for L having helped Light before if he was aware of that.

He needed to do something, and all he could do was pray that his brothers weren't rushing into things without a plan, since he wasn't foolish enough to think they weren't coming for him.

But once they got here, what the hell was he going to do?


	6. Chapter 6

It took a little bit to travel, but the next cavern they entered was not exactly what Light had expected when describing a secret way into an air pocket.

All sounds of plant life lined the walls and floors as they swam through, ranging from corals to hanging pink fruits in bunches that he had to dodge as he went. Near was clearly fascinated by them, while Mello didn't seem to care about the matter one way or another.

"Is this fruit edible?" Light asked, knowing that brightly colored things were something to be wary of up on the surface. They were either delicious or deadly poison, and there was little in between. Typically the bright colors were a shell or the skin that was technically edible, but you didn't eat it, but here it seemed to be like the skin on an apple.

"Technically it is," Near replied, "None of the fruit here will kill you if you ingest it, but each of them does have a peculiar magical side effect." He swam down and picked what looked to be a large blueberry with flower petals, "Eat this, and you can only speak backward. That's why merfolk call it the Sdrawkcab fruit."

"Fitting name." He pointed down below to some golden fruit hanging from vines, "What about those?"

"If you eat one of those, it reveals your true self." Near swam down to them, and Mello rolled his eyes and followed, "Though please note that these things can be really haphazard. One time a person turned into a dolphin. True form or not, that's a weird effect."

Mello smirked, "You know..." he chuckled, "Those look remarkably similar to the Immunity Berry. L showed it to me once on the off chance that he doesn't have an heir, which would make me or Near next in line. Add a red stripe, and the thing's identical."

Light cocked his head, "L not having an heir? I remember Ryuk mentioning that as a possible question for you or Near to ask, but why would he not have one?"

"Oh yeah, he's got the hots for you big time." Mello replied casually, "I've been telling him just to slip you one of the love potion berries, but he keeps saying that while ethics are in no way something he's good with, even he isn't that amoral." 

That caught Light extremely off guard, the idea that the Prince of the Merfolk, his best friend, was in love with him, and suddenly Matsuda's jokes made more sense because if there was one thing merfairies were good at, it was sensing that kind of thing. And it made sense why L wouldn't have an heir in that case.

Of course, Mello could just be messing with him, but something in the teen's eyes made it clear he was genuine on the matter, and maybe that was why he had been so unimpressed when they first met, saying he had expected more. He had figured it was the "savior of the world" thing and not the idea of being more than friends with L.

Speaking of L, he really shouldn't be thinking of a future that couldn't exactly come to pass. He was a fairy, and L was a merman with a kingdom to run. How would that even work? The bigger priority right now was the fact L was in danger.

Near, meanwhile, was using one of the red berries and mushing it into a paste in a bowl, and then painting the red coloring as a stripe onto the true form berry, "We're going to need this." He smiled creepily, "I can't help but wonder what a bilingual berry mixed with true form would do. That's something worth experimenting with."

"Later, Near," Mello replied, taking the fake Immunity Berry, "I'll bring you back all the berries you want next time I make this trip, but right now L is kind of in dire need, and we have a berry to swap."

"What if the dryads have seen this berry?" Light asked worriedly but then paused, "Wait, no, they're not very intelligent. Mostly either mindless lackeys or too violent to function."

"That, and I am sure L took them down the whirlpool of suffering," Mello replied, "That's not the actual name, but it accurately describes what happens to non-merfolk to go down that way. So if any of them are still alive, which the fact we haven't seen L coming this way would imply, it's less than before, and they haven't seen these berries before."

"Let's go then," Light replied, and Near played with a strand of hair,

"Hold on, even if there are few, anyone worth their salt is going to have at least one guard who would go alert the others of L's escape, and they must be holding something over him to make him agree."

"Light," Mello turned to him, "You've dealt with Higuchi before, is there anything he might have that could be used against L?"

"I didn't see much of anything he owned," Light replied, "He does have a lot of thrones meant for locking people in. And I guess illusion abilities since he managed to give the illusion of me having wings that he claimed he could give me. But L isn't the type to fall for bribes or his own life, really, so I suppose it could be threatening the kingdom. A poison, maybe?"

"Fuck," Mello muttered, "So now we probably have to look out for poison. Well, let's get going and get Light the hell out of the water." He gestured for them to follow, and Near put his things in his bag as they swam up into the air bubble. It looked like a small environment of its own, just like the surface above, bright but not from the sun. The most noteworthy thing was that it was colder here.

The first thing they saw was L tied between an arch, seeming largely unconcerned, and then they noticed only one guard. Mello scoffed, "L can clearly escape on his own. There must be a poison keeping him here."

"So should we even free him?" Near asked, "Or handle the poison first?"

"Free him," Light replied, sparing another look at the ticking clock around his neck, "He will be able to tell us what we're looking for, but how do we distract the guard."

"I got this," Mello replied, going below the surface again and Light watched as Mello rocketed out of the water and tackled the guard, pulling him underwater into the depths, and Near blinked,

"So he's going Naiad on them. I should have known." He pulled out two sharpened seashells, handing one to Light, "Shall we?"

"Yeah," they both followed what Mello had done and launched out of the water after gaining some speed, and cut L down, all three crashing into the waters below and watched for a moment as Mello made sure that dryad was dead by crushing his head with a rock repeatedly.

"I'm not surprised," L said calmly, thumb to his lips as usual and cocking his head slightly at the carnage Mello was inflicting, but then his gaze settled on Light and his eyes widened, "Light-Kun, you—Woah. What happened?"

"It's a long story," Light replied, and Near pointed,

"Not much longer," Light looked down and saw another pearl change back to white, leaving only one left. L nodded, showing he did understand the situation,

"We have to get you out of the water quickly. You can probably just onto a ledge, or if you go up the waterfall, there's a sitting area you can use, and I can help you back to the surface since there's some seaweed here."

"Thanks, but right now, we need to get you out of here."

L slumped, "I can't leave. I told them where to find the Immunity Berry—I told you about that, right, Light-Kun? The berry that makes you immune to all magic, past, present, and future?"

"I figured out what it was," Light replied, "But Higuchi immune to all magic throughout time? That would—"

"Erase your victory over him and change our whole reality," Mello replied, "We have to get that damn berry!"

"And then what?" L replied, "Namikawa and Ooi have this poison they can use to kill all of Mermaidia, and I highly doubt even having the berry will stop its use at one point or another."

"Good point..." Light muttered, "We'll swap it for the fake, and Mello can get the vial and horrifically kill some dryads?"

"Sounds like a plan!" Mello replied cheerfully, a little too happy at the idea of killing the people who had kidnapped his brother. Everyone individually agreed to ignore it.

"But we can't just tackle him," L refuted, "That vial does not have a regular lid. It falls off easily, and one drop could kill us all." 

"Who said we have to tackle him?" Near asked, rising to the surface and seeing two of the dryads talking to each other, Namikawa and Ooi, as L confirmed, and it seemed Ooi was holding the vial, and Namikawa had the berry.

Near sat on a rock out of sight and used expert precision to throw the knife-like seashell, stabbing the berry out of Namikawa's hand and into the water. Light was on the other end to catch it, taking the false berry, using his own knife-shell to replicate the blow, and then quickly swimming down to the bottom and burying the real one. That done, he rushed to the waterfall as fast as possible, seeing the pearl already beginning to change back.

L, meanwhile, jumped into the air, "Looking for me?" and then dove back down to provide an extra distraction. However, they all noticed quickly that neither was fooled, and they rushed in another direction, probably to where Light was.

Light waited on a rock, anxiously looking down at the pearl necklace and hoping it could hurry up and give him back his wings, which would make retrieving the vial so much easier. But this was fine. It would take a few moments for them to get up here, and the further that vial was from the water, the better.

He thought about what Mello had said about spells like these never ending well, and he felt his heart rate and breathing pick up. _Come on, come on!_

"So you're the famed flightless fairy," Light turned with panic as he saw Namikawa standing there already, "And you traded your new wings for a tail."

"What of it?" Light snapped, trying to stall for time, subconsciously holding a hand over the pearl necklace to hide the ticking clock.

"It just makes your choice that much easier," Namikawa replied, and Light frowned,

"What choice?"

"You can give us the berry, or I'll drop this vial of poison into the water. Mermaidia will die out by the end of the day, especially your Prince L."

Light got an idea as he examined Namikawa. Ooi, who had just arrived and was watching the interaction, was more to worry about. Still, maybe if Light persuaded the rare smart one, he could get somewhere or at least buy himself enough time because this damn pearl was taking a lot longer to go back to white, and it would be nice if he wasn't in this situation, "You don't have to do any of this. What do you gain from working with Higuchi? Protection? If he had the power to kill you, why didn't he kill me before I took him down?"

"He believed he had you under his thumb with the promise of wings," Ooi replied, but Light smirked a bit when he noticed he had Namikawa's attention,

"He underestimated me and the fact I bow to no one, so what makes you think he wouldn't think the same of you. What do you have to lose here by siding with me and keeping that vial far away from the water? Would you really kill an entire race and bring an overpowered berry to an egotistical, power-hungry moron?"

"You're stalling for time."

"That's irrelevant because you know I make a good point. Higuchi will throw away and kill anyone, so who says that he won't kill you all and break any promises given once he's immune to all magic and can do this himself?"

"This isn't a debate, fairy," Ooi growled, "Give us the berry, or we'll drop the vial."

Knowing he wasn't going to get anywhere, Light made a show of being torn up about it, looking down at the water and then tossing the berry to the other side of the waterfall. He managed to maintain a poker face as he knew Higuchi was falling into his plan once again. When would he learn?

"Good choice, choosing to save the merpeople." Namikawa smiled to him with a nod, but then what shocked both him and Light was Ooi snatching the vial from Namikawa and saying, 

"Too bad they won't live to appreciate it."

The vial dropped, and without hesitation, knowing full well what was going to happen, Light leaped off the ledge and dove after it, "NO!" managing to close the lid right before any of the substance slipped out. He looked down for a split second as he connected with the water.

A bright flash as the pearl turned back to white, and he vaguely heard the shouts of L and his brothers, calling his name.

And then everything was calm, and Light looked down, reality sinking in as he realized with growing horror that he still had a tail. He felt at his back absently, knowing he wasn't going to find anything.

Mello hesitantly swam over, looking down, "Light, you..."

"I had to get the vial." Light replied, "If I want to defend justice, even if it costs me everything, I have to save the innocent."

L solemnly nodded, "There are no words to thank you for what you have done, Light-Kun." Near didn't seem any happier about the situation,

"I can't believe you gave up your wings to save us."

Light forced a small chuckle, "Was it a fool's hope that I'd get my wings back right before hitting the water?"

"Yes. Yes, it was."

L turned to his younger brother with a look of horror, "Mello!" Mello only shrugged in response,

"What? Am I wrong?" 

Near rolled his eyes, "Just because you're right does not mean you're interesting." Mello flipped him off then grinned, trying to distract from the elephant in the room,

"But hey, at least we're going to really screw with Higuchi."

That got a genuine laugh out of Light, wishing he could be there to see what happened when Higuchi ate that thing, I suppose there's that. But..." the gravity of what he had done came back to him as he remembered there was now more than one reason he couldn't be there to see that, "I'm not going home, ever. I'll never see my family again..." tears began to well up in his eyes, and he squeezed them shut.

L moved to try and comfort him, but Mello pulled him off to the side, "Now, L, this is your chance. You could give him the true form berry, which would technically be a fast solution, but it is known for weird outcomes, and you would also be blowing the one-shot you got here. Or, instead, you can use the magic in our family or other strange berries to create a magical compromise here. Possibly send him home now or possibly screw him over, _or_ keep him here a little longer and maybe get a chance to sleep with him? The choice is yours. Food for thought: he likes you back."

L's eyes widened a bit as he considered what Mello had just told him, and he thought about his options here before going over to Light and taking his free hand, 

"Light, I think I can help you."


	7. Chapter 7

To the surprise of nobody, L chose the option which had a higher chance at success but just happened to have Light staying longer, so he had a shot with him.

It took eight days for Near to master working with the berries for the desired effect, and he got Matt's help. Mello was banned from the lab after he accidentally discovered how to change hair colors and went through the entire palace turning everyone's hair various colors. 

Near's test subjects were those who were facing life sentences or would be put to death. Light was both amused and disturbed by this revelation. He had always seen Mermaidia as more of a peaceful kingdom, but only by spending a few days here learned that while it was, every now and then, people would begin rioting, and everything would spiral out of control. It always happened for peculiar reasons, like some drunk fortuneteller saying there would be a deadly plague, and everyone went insane. This only happened once in each monarch's reign, from what he was learning.

"Here we go," Near held up a vial, "I tested this, and it's actually very interesting. It gives a shapeshifting effect, not unlike Matt as a Sea Butterfly."

Light held the vial in his hands when he was given it by Near, examining the pale blue liquid within, "So I would be able to come back with my tail whenever I want to?"

"Basically," Matt replied, "I will have you know switching back and forth is a super weird sensation that never stops being weird." Light looked down at his tail and vaguely recalled the feeling of getting it. He had been mostly distracted since Near was about to die, but looking back, that had been an extremely weird sensation.

L pulled Light close and gestured to Near, "How's your neck?" Near absently placed his fingers to the bruises around his neck where the vines had grabbed him,

"Sore, but it could be worse."

Light looked up to L, noticing their hands intertwined, and he smiled. Once Near had confirmed he could fix this, the idea of having a tail long-term wasn't so bad. It was nice to see L for longer periods... and have a chance at a life neither of them had thought possible before this.

He did know, however, that he had to get back because he had told Sayu to get Dad if he hadn't returned by dusk the day after he left. Sure, it took a couple days, especially on foot in Light's experience, to get to where Dad stayed as the Guardian Fairy of the meadow—and to this day, that was an extreme pain—but it did mean he had a buffer. Of course, after Higuchi's attack before, he understood why Dad stayed farther away from the meadow, but that didn't make it any less irritating. Thankfully, he knew a shortcut from Crystal Cove, which could get him there in a couple hours by flying.

The small group left the lab, and Mello was waiting for them, "Is that the thing that's gonna fix you?" Light rolled his eyes and looked down at it,

"I think so." L held Light's hand,

"Let's head back to the cove. That way, we can make sure it works."

It was still shocking to see everything from a different perspective, and no struggle to get through the water at all. Even when he hadn't had wings and L helped him through the water, having a tail was so much different from that.

He knew why L couldn't drink his own vial, because he had a kingdom to help run, and what if it wasn't possible? Light knew he had had many changes to his physical form by magic in the last six months, so would it even work for anyone else? These were questions he would have to ask Dad when he got home.

They got back to the cove, and Light sat on a rock, taking the lid off the vial, looking to L, "Well, here goes nothing." He downed it all at once, and almost instantly, he felt that weird sensation Matt was describing as he watched his tail turn back to legs, and he felt at his back, feeling his wings once again. He turned, seeing they were slightly bigger and more flowery this time. He noticed that the necklace from Enchantress Misa to give him his first pair of wings was gone.

He laughed in pure relief and then tested to make sure it worked and willed himself to shift between the two forms a few times to ensure he could do so. L beamed and sat next to him, their foreheads touching, 

"Looks like everything turned out perfectly."

Mello sat below them on the sand next to Near, "There's only one thing that could make this day any better."

Near giggled as though he knew what this was, but he still asked, "What?"

"I'd _love_ to see the moment Higuchi eats that berry. What do you think will happen?"

...

Namikawa reluctantly looked down at the berry after days of travel, knowing what would happen when he handed this over. Ooi seemed more determined to have power, but Namikawa couldn't help but remember what Light said. So if he was somewhat relieved that the boy managed to stop the vial from poisoning the waters, nobody had to know.

"Higuchi, we retrieved the Immunity Berry," he looked around the bog Higuchi had been banished to by the combined to the combined power of the Guardian fairies, and he shuddered as Higuchi laughed, snatching the berry out of his hand, standing over the edge of a particularly large mushroom,

"Remember this moment, as you watch me come into my destiny, and the Enchantress will have to marry me now. Not even that wretched flightless boy, Light, can stop me now." He took a bite, and almost immediately, Namikawa had to suppress laughter as he realized that Light had outsmarted them and switched the berry for something else. With what? He had no idea since he knew little about the merfolk terrain.

Ooi was clearly horrified because of how screwed they were for this, and that was the only reason Namikawa was hiding his laughter at all, but he wasn't overly concerned.

Where a sorcerer had stood, now there was a particularly hideous toad, talking and standing in a way as though smug, "Strange... I feel different. Is this what invulnerability feels like?"

"I suppose it could." He forced out, having to bite his fist, hoping he could get away from here before Higuchi realized what had happened.

Of course, at that moment, Higuchi examined himself and realized what had happened, "No! You fools! You gave me the wrong berry!" He hopped over to them, screaming, "How did this happen?"

"I—I don't know," Ooi stammered, "We were sure it was the right berry. We battled them for it."

"Them?!"

"L and his brothers," Namikawa explained, smiling a bit despite himself as he added, "And that 'flightless boy,' Light."

Higuchi recoiled as though he had been burnt just by the name, "Light... It can't be!" He let out a roar of pure rage, turning and screaming to the sky, "I'll get you, Light! I'll get you if it's the last thing I do!"

Somehow, Namikawa doubted that would ever come to pass.

OoOoO

Sayu pounded on her Dad's door. It had been days, and Light still wasn't back! Was something wrong?!

Dad opened the door, smiling warmly, and before she could say anything at all, he held a hand up to assure her, "Don't worry, Sayu. He's fine."

"But... I didn't even say anything yet!"

"You didn't need to." He gestured above them, "Look." She turned and saw her brother flying towards them, and she rocketed into the sky, catching him off guard, crushed in her embrace,

"Light! Don't you do that to me again—I was so worried!"

Light eagerly returned the hug and grinned to see Dad, "Hey, Dad." Dad nodded to him, a wide smile of pride on his face, hugging his son,

"I wanted to congratulate you on a job well done. I'm very proud of you, you know." He chuckled as they broke from the hug, "At this point, I doubt I will even have to send you off for your training."

Light sighed in relief at that, not wanting to leave for however long that would take. And just his luck if he did that, Higuchi would go and return because nothing can ever be easy for him, "Thanks, Dad."

Sayu then leaned towards him and examined his hand, snatching it and staring down at the object on his finger, "Light... is that an engagement ring I see on your finger?" Light pulled his hand away, seeing the somewhat panicked look on Dad's face, 

"What?! I mean—" he had to calm down his poor father, who seemed on the brink of a heart attack, "It's fine, Dad. It's L."

Dad's brow furrowed in clear confusion, "The merpri—are those tattoos?!" Light looked down at his biceps where his marks from braving the Depths of Despair were. His arms were more visible since he had changed clothes in Mermaidia, so his top was short-sleeved. Oh... he probably had to go get his not-waterproof clothes back from L.

He giggled sheepishly, "It's a long story. Can you come over for a little bit? I know Sayu and I would appreciate the company, and I'm sure Mom misses having you around."

Dad softened, "I would love to. I think I can be away from here for a little while. I expect to hear the whole story and have a talk with L."

"First of all, your wings!" Sayu gestured to his changed wings, "What happened!? Weren't you just supposed to be saving L from some dryads?" 

"Yeah, but things got a little out of hand," they started flying back to the meadow, "Now... where do I start with this? Alright, how about with the fact L has extremely wreckless little brothers..."

The story lasted all the way back home, needing to show Sayu his special shortcut to make sure the trip didn't take days, and through dinner, and he ended with his engagement to L and the potion Near had created with the berries.

By the next day, Dad and L had a very serious talk about treating Light correctly if they were going to be getting married, and Light would be living underwater half the time. Light watched with Near and Mello as L was the most submissive they had ever seen him, trying to get Soichiro's blessing.

"I have never heard him agreeing with anyone this quickly," Mello whispered, "I was starting to think he would die on the spot from it." Light rolled his eyes,

"Guys, he's not _that_ stubborn."

Near blinked, "Are you not aware of the path of pain he set for the berry this time?"

"Of course I'm aware," he couldn't help but laugh at the deathtrap L had shown him. Honestly, it was nothing short of a miracle that the two of them hadn't died, "I was there."

In the end, L managed to get Soichiro's blessing, and Light found himself married by the end of the year after going through the struggles that came with being engaged to the crown prince. 

It was a few years before Higuchi came back to make everyone's life hard and try to get revenge on Light for the whole berry swapping thing. This new attack was also at exactly the moment Light went off for his training. Everyone had seen this coming since everyone was both intelligent and paranoid, so the threat was dealt with rather quickly.

In the end, everything was peaceful both on land and in the sea, and ten years later, as Light turned to his now-husband, the King of Mermaidia, he found he wouldn't have it any other way.


End file.
